Justiça Restaurativa em Portugal

O que esperamos?

quinta-feira, junho 22, 2006

Recomenda-se

Recomendação Rec(2006)8

Assistência a vítimas de crime

"(...)

13. Mediation

13.1. Taking into account the potential benefits of mediation for victims, statutory agencies should, when dealing with victims, consider, where appropriate and available, the possibilities offered for mediation between the victim and the offender, in conformity with Committee of Ministers’ Recommendation R (99) 19 on mediation in criminal matters.

13.2. The interests of victims should be fully and carefully considered when deciding upon and during a mediation process. Due consideration should be given not only to the potential benefits but also to the potential risks for the victim.

13.3. Where mediation is envisaged, states should support the adoption of clear standards to protect the interests of victims. These should include the ability of the parties to give free consent, issues of confidentiality, access to independent advice, the possibility to withdraw from the process at any stage and the competence of mediators.

terça-feira, junho 20, 2006

De Espanha - bons ventos!

In this conference, the European Forum, for the first time, explored in detail what lies beyond the ‘classical’ application of restorative justice. The conference provided space for looking beyond the law and touching upon the relation of restorative justice not only to criminal justice, but also to distributive and social justice.

The central topic of the conference was how social responses to harmful acts could better meet the needs of victims, as well as how wrongdoers could take responsibility for their acts and make reparation to their victims and the community.

Harm can be caused by everyday social interactions, criminal offences, but also by abuse of political power or wars. Accordingly, the conference provided place for presentations discussing the potential of the restorative justice philosophy in community and school settings, in less and in more serious crimes as well as in post-war countries where masses of human beings became victims of harm-causing.

Almost 300 participants from 33 countries and the nearly 50 presentations that were given together with the high number of interactive workshops provided a highly interdisciplinary milieu in which both the theoretical as well as the practical issues of restorative justice could be explored in more details. It was emphasised that on the one hand we need to search for the ways in which the restorative approach can be effectively spread in different spheres of our social lives.

On the other hand, we need to keep our critical approach concerning the existing programmes and regularly monitor whether the practice still reflects to the initial principles. As Lode Walgrave concluded, similarly to Sisyphus, we might never manage to roll the rock to the top of the hill, since punishment and violence can hardly be eliminated in the world.

Nevertheless, we need to keep pushing the rock and promote non-violent conflict resolution approaches in every possible ways.

We should keep our faith that people – wherever they are – are able and willing to actively take part in building/maintaining social harmony in their lives...

The conference programme is available here.My presentation at the conference is available here.The photos about the conference can be seen here.

segunda-feira, junho 12, 2006

And the winner is...

John Braithwaite Wins First Stockholm Criminology Prize

Peacebuilder, social scientist and restorative justice activist John Braithwaite has won the first Stockholm Criminology Prize, from the Swedish Ministry of Justice, for "outstanding achievements in criminological research or for the application of research results by practitioners for the reduction of crime and the advancement of human rights."

Author of "Crime, Shame and Reintegration" and founder and head of the Regulatory Institutions Network at the Australian National University's Research School for Social Sciences in Canberra, Braithwaite has been a major force in the restorative justice movement.

terça-feira, junho 06, 2006

Em Leuven, já em Agosto

Social Justice and Human Rights in the Era of Globalisation:

Between Rhetoric and Reality

21-23 August 2006, Leuven, Belgium

We invite policy makers, practitioners, academics, students, communityleaders, and others who are interested in the field of social justiceand human rights to register for the international conference “SocialJustice and Human Rights in the Era of Globalisation: Between Rhetoricand Reality”. This conference will take place in Leuven, Belgiumbetween 21 and 23 August 2006.

The main conference theme will be analysed through three main angles:(1) Theoretical Issues in Social Justice and Human Rights: How dovarious forms of justice – political, social, economic and legal –relate to one another? In which way can human rights concepts andinstruments contribute to justice? What are the correlations betweenjustice and human rights at the national and the international level?

(2)Social Justice and Human Rights and Societies in Transition: Whatdoes the concept of social justice mean in societies emerging fromviolent conflict? How to tackle issues of legal justice and socialjustice at the same time? What is the role of the internationalcommunity in promoting social justice and human rights in societies intransition?

(a) an opening session with keynote addresses(b) three plenary sessions, with invited speakers for specific themes(c) workshops with individual papers, selected by the scientificcommittee (including special workshops for student presentations)(d) a field visit to a Leuven prison (optional)(e) a conference dinner with a special musical act.

The deadline for paper abstracts is 10 JULY 2006.

The conference is taking place in Leuven, a Flemish historical city inthe heart of Belgium, and half an hour travel distance from Brussels,the capital of Europe. Leuven is known, amongst other things, for itsuniversity, which is the oldest of the Low Countries and a veryimportant centre of learning in Belgium and Europe.